Tropical Storm Bill causes flooding along Gulf Coast

Further flooding was possible in eastern Texas today as Tropical Storm Bill advanced into the country along the Gulf Coast.

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SHARES

Further flooding was possible in eastern Texas today as Tropical Storm Bill advanced into the country along the Gulf Coast.

CBS News said the National Weather Service projected that parts of north Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma could get as much as 9 inches of rain during the next five days and Missouri could get more than 7. After last month’s historic rains and floods, the forecast was expected to complicate ongoing flood-containment efforts.

"If we get that much rain in that time, there's probably going to be a resurgence of flooding along these rivers," Kurt Van Speybroeck, meteorologist for the weather service in Fort Worth, told CBS.

The Weather Channel said the storm was expected to make landfall this morning along the Texas coast and said the peak storm surge would occur as the center moves inland, coinciding with an early morning high tide along the upper Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts.

Some minor coastal flooding was also possible as far east as southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Flood watches had already been posted from Texas to southern Illinois in advance of Bill and its remnant, the Weather Channel said.

USA Today reported that a flash flood watch was in effect for the Houston area through 6 p.m. Wednesday, with street flooding likely from 6 to 8 inches of rain expected, according to the National Hurricane Center said. West of Houston, 10 to 15 inches of rain may fall, and south of the city, where heavy rains hit Saturday morning, the ground was already saturated.

Some areas of Texas were still recovering from as much as 25 inches of rain since early May.

The Marine Industries Association of South Florida and the Marine Industry Cares Foundation, organizers of the 41st Annual Broward County Waterway Cleanup held on March 3, collected 32 tons of trash from 31 sites around the county.